


Ill Met By Moonlight

by ServeMeTheSky



Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Carmilla - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Hollstein - Freeform, Laura/Carmilla
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-27
Updated: 2015-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-23 17:12:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4884991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ServeMeTheSky/pseuds/ServeMeTheSky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The thing about having a vampiric girlfriend with the tendency to shapeshift into a giant black cat, Laura mused, was that it fit in with college life much easier than expected.</p>
<p>Nice bit of fluff, in an effort to ignore the angst of series two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ill Met By Moonlight

The thing about having a vampiric girlfriend with the tendency to shapeshift into a giant black cat, Laura mused, was that it fit in with college life much easier than expected. Students were practically famous for their inability to wake up before noon. Given that she spent more evenings than she would have previously anticipated fighting the forces of evil, she was now one of them. She didn't get to bed until almost three o'clock last night because she was scrubbing green slime out of her favourite cardigan. Damn those Alchemy Club nerds and their Ghostbuster-style experiments.

Still, it meant that she and Carmilla ran on pretty similar schedules, although her girlfriend didn't have to bother waking up for her lectures, because she could pass exams in her sleep. (Three hundred years and an infinite supply of books was not a luxury that Laura had.) However, they could spend most of the afternoon and all of the night together before the tiredness became overwhelming.

As for the giant black cat thing… well, it turned out that 'No Pets in the Dormitories' was about the only rule that Silas University enforced. If you wanted to harbour mythical creatures (Laura was pretty sure she had seen a unicorn on her way back from class the other day. She didn't ask), you could go for it, but a nice, normal kitty cat would get your thrown out faster than you could say 'hypocrisy'. Fortunately, if no-one knew that you were keeping a cat in your dorm room because ninety percent of the time she was a sullen, brooding vampire, there wasn't a problem.

Carmilla was only minimally sarcastic at Laura cooing and squealing over her cat form. She made a few scathing comments, mostly to keep up appearances, but secretly she was pleased that her girlfriend wasn't freaked out. It was bad enough having to negotiate through the whole 'I'm several centuries old and lure virgins to their death, and also I like to snack on people' thing, but to add that 'I moonlight as a big cat that also has a fondness for snacking on people' might have been the final straw.

Laura, however, had just treated this information like vampire were-cats were an everyday occurrence. Alright, for Silas University, they pretty much were, but still, it was impressive.

Laura yawned and stretched as she worked the kinks out of her stiff back. She had been huddled over her desk slaving over her Literature homework for the past three hours. She huffed. How was it her fault that she missed the deadline because someone decided to go all _Day of the Triffids_ in the library and she, LaF and Perry had to break out the chainsaws? Her professor had just looked over the rim of her glasses and informed her that if the essay wasn't on her desk tomorrow, there would be trouble.

Well screw you, Laura thought as she saved the file to a USB stick, I can save the school _and_ get my homework done.

Her internal gloating was cut off when the window opened behind her and the curtains rustled. Carmilla stepped into the room.

"You know we have a perfectly good door, right?" Laura asked, rolling her eyes.

Carmilla smirked and stalked over, slipping her arms around Laura's shoulders and nuzzling into her hair. "Where's the fun in that?" she purred.

Laura leant back into her embrace. "Must be your creature of the night inclinations shining through again," she teased.

Carmilla groaned. "You aren't going to sing that insipid song again, are you? It was bad enough having you and LaFontaine caterwauling throughout the whole film yesterday, without having a reprisal now."

Laura ignored her girlfriends' griping. "I can't believe you of all people can't appreciate the majesty of the Rocky Horror Show." She teased the ends of Carmilla's hair. "Wasn't 'I've tasted blood and I want more, more, more, more' part of your whole awakening?"

"Don't even-"

"And I bet you had something like 'touch-a touch-a touch-a touch me, I wanna be dirty' for luring conquests back into your lair?" Laura interrupted, shamelessly ribbing Carmilla.

"No self-respecting 'creature of the night' would break into a song and dance montage every ten minutes," Carmilla snarked. "And that song was just weird," she added, burrowing her forehead into Laura's shoulder as if trying to escape from the images that were plaguing her mind.

Laura giggled in response, hugging the arms that were still slung around her shoulders. Carmilla huffed at the affection, but she did tighten her hold on her girlfriend, as if trying to melt into the soft contours of the younger girl. Laura held the pose for several moments until it became clear that Carmilla wasn't planning on letting go any time soon. She left one arm in place but returned her right hand to the keyboard, tip tapping away at the computer.

Carmilla peered out from behind Laura, watching the icons move about the screen.

"Are you still writing that Literature paper?" she asked.

"Nope," Laura replied happily. "Got it finished just before you came back."

"Good girl." Carmilla pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

Laura continued to tap away at the computer, idly browsing through web pages, with Carmilla content to watch. They stayed this way for several moments until Laura yawned loudly, her whole body vibrating slightly with the force.

"Tired, cupcake?" Carmilla asked. "Why don't you get an early night?"

"Mm, but I want to spend time with you," Laura whined. "I feel like I haven't seen you properly for days. Besides, it's not even midnight yet."

Carmilla laughed lightly. "Hard to believe that you're the same girl who barely knew what midnight looked like when I first moved in. You're a regular little night-owl now."

Laura managed to slide out of her desk-chair and onto her feet without breaking the hold Carmilla had on her. She turned in her arms so they were face-to-face. "Well, you have had quite the influence on me," she whispered with a grin.

From anyone else that might have been a back-handed compliment, but Carmilla knew that in Laura's quaintly naïve world, she truly meant it. Her father was a typically over-protective single parent, and the impression Carmilla got was that Laura didn't have the opportunity to get out much before she moved to Silas. She still had no idea how Laura had managed to wheedle her way into living in a dormitory.

But, despite her lack of worldly experience and her slightly stifled upbringing, Laura was surprisingly okay with having a girlfriend who was undead. She had asked once whether 'undead' was offensive, and if it would be more politically correct to say 'differently alive' or 'alternatively animated', but dropped the subject after the disbelieving look Carmilla gave her.

Still, she didn't mind having O Negative stored in the fridge, or changing her sleep schedule to fit in with Carmilla more, or cleaning up fur and dirty paw prints. She didn't know what she had done to deserve her, but sometimes Carmilla couldn't believe that Laura loved her back.

The younger girl was watching Carmilla's changing facial expressions with concern in her eyes. She meant her comment in a positive way, not in whatever way was going on in Carmilla's head. "Carm?" she asked gently. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah cupcake, I'm okay," Carmilla said gruffly. She couldn't go letting on that she had proper feelings now. She had a reputation to maintain. "It's a nice night outside," she began, in an effort to change the conversation. "The full moon is up. Did you want to go for a walk around the campus before we settle in?"

Laura stepped out of their embrace and stretched again. "That sounds great actually. I'm stiff as a board from sitting at this desk all evening." She sat down on the edge of her bed and started to pull on her trainers.

Carmilla stood where she was, waiting for her. Laura made a face at her girlfriend.

"Are you going like that?" she asked.

Carmilla frowned down at her outfit. It was the same thing she had been wearing all evening. For that matter, it was the same thing she wore nearly all the time; boots, black leather trousers and a monochrome top. "Uh, yeah. Why, what's wrong with it?"

"No!" Laura said. "I mean, are you going like that." She held her hands parallel to each other and ran them up and down, indicating a tower of some kind as far as Carmilla could tell. "In that…shape."

Carmilla's eyes widened in recognition. "Ohh," she said. "Well, I was thinking about…changing, but I can stay like this if you want me to."

Laura shook her head. "No, no, it's cool. I like to see you in your cat form. I know you don't get to run around as much as you'd like."

"I'm not a dog, Laura," Carmilla said, "I don't need to go for a frolic in the fields every day."

Laura stood up and tapped the end of the brunette's nose. "I know that, silly. I just mean that you have to stay bipedal most of the time because of the stupid rules this university has about animals, and it isn't fair on you."

Carmilla raised an eyebrow. "Bipedal?" she asked.

Laura shrugged. "I've been reading some of LaF's science books."

"Right." Carmilla guided them towards the door and closed it behind them. As they walked down the corridor she idly wondered where their keys were. There should be at least two copies, one for each of them, but as far as she could tell their room hadn't ever been locked. People were wandering in and out at all hours, and yet they had never been burgled. She wasn't complaining, but in her experience, humans just weren't that neighbourly.

Laura skipped ahead as they made their way down the stairs and threw the door to their building open, taking a dramatic breath of fresh air. "Oh, this is so much better than that stuffy room," she exclaimed, turning in a circle as if to experience it from all angles. "And the moon is so bright. It's like twice the size of a normal moon!" She squinted up at the sky. "This isn't one of those creepy Silas phenomena is it?" she asked suspiciously. "Like, it isn't a harbinger of evil or is going to swallow the sun or something?"

Carmilla followed her gracefully, quietly shutting the main door. "I think it's just the moon, cupcake," she said dryly. "It doesn't have an agenda."

Laura pouted. "You never know around here." She walked forward a couple of steps to a fork in the path, one way heading east to classroom buildings and the other heading west to the other dormitories. The path around the campus was circuitous, so it didn't really matter which direction they headed in, but Laura stopped and mentally debated anyway, before reaching a decision and facing east. "This way around?"

Carmilla shrugged, indifferent of the route. "Whatever you like, babe."

"Ooh, I like it when you call me that," Laura grinned. She pressed a quick kiss to Carmilla's lips and stepped back. The vampire was faster though, and grabbed her by the waist before Laura could fully retract. She pressed their lips together again, hungrily, insistently, trying to memorise the taste of Laura's mouth.

Laura squeaked in surprise at the sudden pleasure she was experiencing. Her brain felt fried and it took several moments for her to regain enough processing power to wrap her arms around Carmilla's neck. She moaned quietly into her mouth, quickly forgetting where they were and what they were supposed to be doing, so caught up in a heady haze.

A small hint of fang crept from Carmilla's gum line and just grazed slightly along Laura's tongue. She groaned at the inclusion of an unfamiliar texture to their kiss, and the sound almost caused Carmilla to forget herself. If her girlfriend kept making sounds like that they wouldn't be walking far.

Slowly she withdrew from Laura's mouth, pressing small pecks to her lips as she did so. Laura tried to follow her mouth backwards until she realised the kiss was over. She blinked owlishly, trying to regain focus.

"Wow," she whispered quietly, nuzzling closer to the crook of Carmilla's neck. "Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

There was no answer except for a vague shuffling of feet. Laura leaned back until she could look Carmilla in the eye, but remained bundled in their embrace. "Carm?" she prompted.

"I just…" Carmilla began, her gaze flitting back and forth, "I guess I just like it when you like me. When you like what I do."

Laura could have sworn her heart was about to melt in her chest, and she didn't even care. "Carm, I like everything about you," she said earnestly. "Love everything about you," she corrected. "You have this sort of…magnetic presence that just draws me to you. You're fascinating. You're protective without being overbearing and I know you're supposed to be this big scary monster but you've never done anything to harm me and I've never felt safer than with you. I love you."

"I love you too," Carmilla replied. It sounded lame in her own ears, a pale comparison of the beautiful speech Laura had just given. But judging from the beaming smile her girlfriend was giving her, it was just the right thing to say.

Laura bit her lip, trying to prevent the smile she was sporting from permanently fixing itself to her features. "Come on," she said, gently pushing Carmilla away, "There'll be time for smooching later. It's healthy exercise time now."

"I know how we can combine smooching and exercise," Carmilla said with a lascivious wink. Laura blushed. Carmilla gave a predatory smirk, but retreated under the shadow of a tree anyway.

This was the bit that always astounded Laura. Carmilla gave a quick look around, just to check no one was watching, and slunk back against the tree trunk. She was almost fully swathed in darkness but for the pale glow of the moon and a nearby streetlight. Carmilla closed her eyes and concentrated.

Laura watched on as her girlfriend began to change. The vampire was standing up with her arms by her side, lips parted slightly. There was a small sound, a kind of visceral tearing, like a chicken drumstick being pulled from the main body. In only a couple of seconds, the space the brunette had occupied was filled with a large black cat.

Laura had been watching the entire time, but couldn't pinpoint the exact moment of transformation, where her girlfriend ceased being one shape and started being another. She was humanoid one moment and feline the next. If Carmilla ever allowed them, LaFontaine would have a field day investigating it.

Carmilla padded over to where Laura was still standing, and cocked her head, as if wondering why they were still standing there. Laura gave her a quick pat on the head before heading off down the path at a slow amble, Carmilla at her heels.

It was an experience she had never been able to have before, walking outside in the middle of the night. Her mother had died when she was very young, and her dad overcompensated by being massively paranoid about her safety. It wasn't like she was a raving party animal when she was in school, but it was kind of a bummer to have a curfew of one hour before sundown. It was weird to assume that bad things only happened in the darkness, when Laura knew from experience that they tended to happen more during the day.

The campus had a totally different feel at night, and Laura relished the opportunity to be amongst it. The air felt different, cleaner and crisper than during the day. There was hardly any sound at all, apart from the occasional cricket or rustling creature. The silence that filled the atmosphere was wonderfully comforting, not like the scary, oppressive silence that people always associated with night-time. Laura felt at peace, like the world belonged only to her and Carmilla.

Streetlights were few and far between along the path (another sign, as if she needed one, that health and safety wasn't a big concern for Silas) but the moon gave off just enough light that Laura could walk with the confidence that she wouldn't break her neck.

Carmilla was trotting patiently by her side. Laura thought it was cute that her girlfriend was trying to be companionable. She also knew that the reason Carmilla changed into a cat was for the freedom and the heightened senses and the ability to hunt in a way that almost playful. She knew it was double standards to find a kitten batting a dormouse around quite innocuous, but a vampire playing with a human as one step down from a cardinal sin, but that was how it was. She tried not to judge, but sometimes it was hard.

Black, velvet ears kept pricking up and twisting towards the sounds around them, small nose twitching with the scent of prey. Laura could see the way Carmilla's head kept turning to the wooded areas that surrounded much of the campus.

"You don't need to walk with me," she murmured quietly.

Carmilla looked over her.

Laura grinned down, her toothy smile in contrast to her silhouetted figure. "Come on Carm, I can see you're practically dying to bound over there and hunt something." She made a shooing gesture with her hands. "Go, honestly. Find a rabbit or something. Perry was saying she found a good recipe for game pie," she joked.

There was something quite surreal about watching a big cat roll their eyes at you. Despite her apparent lack of humour, Carmilla bounded a few yards away anyway.

Laura was about to carry on walking when Carmilla came back over and nuzzled her head into her palm for a split second before trotting off again. Laura smiled to herself at the behaviour. Regardless of her form, or how scary and evil she was supposed to be, Carmilla always found a way to show her she cared.

She ambled on through the quad by herself, occasionally spotting Carmilla's dark shape against the treeline. The cat was prowling and stalking back and forth, but Laura noticed that Carmilla tried to stay as parallel to her as she could.

It was nice to watch Carmilla let herself relax. She never did it during the day, when people were bursting into their room every five minutes with one crisis or another. Laura secretly thought that it was because her friends were still slightly suspicious of Carmilla's motives. Especially Danny, who took every opportunity to glower at the vampire.

Carmilla might have had three hundred years to develop immunity to hostility, but Laura hadn't, and it upset her that the most important people in her life couldn't get along.

She was half wrapped up in her thoughts, and half wrapped up in watching Carmilla, that she didn't notice the large figure step onto the path in front of her, and almost walked straight into it.

"Oh, whoopsie," she said, staggering slightly to remain balanced. "Sorry, didn't see you there."

The figure straightened up to its full height, at least a foot taller than Laura. The two of them were standing on a dark area of the path, almost slap bang in between two streetlights, so Laura couldn't see who it was she had run into. By the size and shape, she assumed it was a man.

"Alright love," he said in a deep, gruff voice, "let's just do this the easy way. Give us your phone."

"My phone?" Laura patted down her pockets, even though she knew her phone was still on her desk. "Sorry, I don't have it with me. There's a payphone by the main building though, if you need to make a call." She gestured helpfully towards it.

"Don't play stupid with me," the figure said menacingly. "Gimme your phone and your valuables."

"Well, I've already told you that I don't have my phone with me," Laura retorted, her polite façade slipping. "And who carries anything valuable around with them in the middle of the night?"

"Rich college girls, usually," said the figure. "Now, empty out your pockets and no one has to get hurt." He took a step forward, so he was almost in Laura's personal space. She couldn't see well, but it looked like he was carrying a knife or a small weapon of some kind in his hand.

Laura blinked in realisation. "Are you robbing me?" she asked.

"Yes!"

"Oh." Laura was remarkably unaffected by this development in her evening. "Well, I wasn't kidding about the lack of valuables."

"Don't give me that," the man scoffed. "I'm sure Daddy wouldn't have you wandering around by yourself in the dark of night without money or a mobile. Just hand them over!"

Laura threw her arms in the air. "It's like a freaking broken record with you. I am genuinely walking around without anything worth stealing, and even if I had something, I wouldn't give it to you," she cried, barely resisting the urge to stamp her foot. "And whilst my Dad may or may not be aware that I take nocturnal strolls, he certainly makes sure that I have what I need. He sends me weekly care packages, and I've taken martial arts lessons since I was eight."

The man, clearly growing frustrated with the way this attempted robbery was going, grabbed her wrist and pulled it upwards, so Laura was forced to stand on her tiptoes. "Yeah?" he growled. "Well your martial arts don't seem to be doing you much good."

Laura struggled briefly against his iron grip. "Yes, well, you caught me somewhat by surprise," she admitted. "Although you did make one mistake…”

The man pulled her arm again, causing Laura to gasp in pain. "What's that, then?" he sneered.

Laura could see a dark shadow flit behind the would-be mugger and she grinned, despite her predicament. "I'm not by myself out here," she said.

A low, guttural snarling disturbed the silence of the night. The man turned around, dragging Laura with him, and his eyes bulged in horror.

Sitting on ground about ten paces away, with the dull streetlight illuminating the darkness of its fur, was a massive black cat. It looked as casual as a predator can be, but the way its tail was swishing violently back and forth suggested that it was moments away from snapping. Its fangs were bared slightly, and the growling was still reverberating through its chest.

"Holy sh-" the man began, flinching at the sight. "What the hell is that?"

" _That_ ," Laura stressed, "is Carmilla."

"It has a name?" His jaw might have dropped, but his hand was still firmly clasped around Laura's wrist, and she refrained from making a fuss in case Carmilla attacked.

"She's a she, not an it," Laura corrected. "And of course she has a name. Everyone should have a name."

"But it's a puma or a panther or something! Who names a panther?!" The man was starting to get a bit hysterical now, utterly confused by the turn this evening was taking. Carmilla sauntered forward a couple of paces before settling back down with a bored air.

"She named herself," Laura said, totally blasé to how those words sounded. Now that Carmilla was in front of them, she was feeling a lot calmer about her predicament. "Even if it is just an anagram of her real name." She mumbled that last bit under her breath, but judging from the expression she gave, Carmilla heard her.

"But where the hell did you find a panther in Styria?"

Laura tilted her head, as if looking at Carmilla for the first time. "I didn't think panthers were a real species," she mused aloud. "I heard they were a type of leopard, or something. But I don't really know what kind of cat she is. I guess a puma is quite likely, but you can get black jaguars as well, can't you? I'll have to ask."

The man gave her a disbelieving look. "Lady, you are seriously crazy." He was still holding his knife in his free hand, and waved it around as he spoke.

This was a mistake on his part, because no sooner had he raised the knife slightly closer to Laura's face than it was previously, that Carmilla pounced.

She sprung forward in one powerful bound, landing right in front of the pair. She snapped at him, her mouth wide and terrible, fangs sharp and bright. Her brown eyes were narrowed and full of fire and menace.

Realising his mistake, the man dropped his knife and, almost as an afterthought, released Laura's arm as well. He raised his hands in surrender and took a hesitant step backwards.

"Hey, whoa, easy there," he said to Carmilla, keeping his eyes fixed on her in case she attacked. "Call her off, will you," he muttered to Laura.

"Oh, I don't tell her what to do," Laura replied airily. "She makes her own decisions."

The mugger could have sworn he saw the big cat smirk for a brief moment before it advanced another pace towards him.

"Look, hey, I'm sorry," he said desperately. "I didn't mean to call you crazy, or insult your pet. Just get her to back off, yeah?"

Carmilla hissed.

"I think she's more opposed to the fact that you were trying to mug me than anything else," Laura explained, idly scratching Carmilla behind the ears whilst she stared the mugger down. "Although personally I don't appreciate being called crazy and if she wants to hiss at you for that, I'm okay with it."

Carmilla hissed louder and made a snapping motion with her jaw, causing the man to jump.

"She's not my pet either," Laura added. "She's everything." She gazed fondly down at Carmilla, who glanced away from the mugger to lick at Laura's hand.

This tender moment was lost on the man, who was staring at the knife he had dropped, as if wondering where it had come from. "Look love, I wasn't actually gonna hurt you," he begged, "I just needed some money. I wasn't gonna stab you or nothing." His eyes flickered from Laura to Carmilla and back again, trying to decide who was in charge of his fate. "Just let me go, yeah?"

Laura could feel Carmilla's muscles relax slightly under her palm, suggesting that the cat was content for Laura to make the decision.

"Well," she said slowly, "I don't really want to see Carmilla rip you to pieces. And it's kind of late, and I don't want to have to come up with an excuse as to why there are body parts spread around the quad-"

The mugger jerked in horror at the idea of being dismembered, but Laura wasn't paying attention

"-so I suppose you can go," she said.

"Thanks, thank you," the man sobbed in relief, already turning on his heel to run.

"Ah ah ah," Laura added, wagging a finger. "You can go if you promise not to attack anyone on campus anymore. It's dangerous enough around here without Dick Turpin wannabes."

The man nodded his head furiously before taking off, frantic footsteps echoing like gunshots in the still night.

The girl and the cat stood watching his retreat until they were sure they were alone. There was another animalistic ripping sound, and Carmilla transformed back into her vampiric form, immediately patting Laura's arms and stomach to check for injuries.

"You're alright, aren't you? He didn't touch you, right?" she asked.

Laura pressed the heels of her palms over Carmilla's still wandering hands. "I'm fine," she said soothingly. "You were here the whole time; you know he didn't touch me."

"I know, but still." Carmilla shrugged off Laura's touch and continued to run her hands along her girlfriend's body, needing to convince herself that she was truly fine. Laura allowed the contact, quite enjoying it, until Carmilla withdrew, satisfied that she didn't need to chase the crook down and eviscerate him after all.

Laura smiled beatifically at her, reaching with her hand to tangle their fingers together.

Carmilla accepted the hold, but frowned. "You're taking this remarkably well," she commented. "Are you sure you're fine?"

Laura giggled and started walking back towards their dormitory, tugging Carmilla with her. "Of course I'm fine. He only grabbed onto me for a moment, then he let go." She smirked. "I think you really frightened him."

"Damn right," Carmilla grumbled. "Should've chewed his arm off, or bitten his leg or something, just to teach him a lesson." She was still a little worked up from the violent turn their supposedly relaxing night had taken. "I can't believe you're not more bothered by this. He was trying to mug you!" she exclaimed.

"Carm, this is Silas University. Things like this literally happen all the time. Sure, there are usually more tentacles and things involved, but you get the point," Laura said. "If one hapless thief is the worst thing that happens this week, then personally I will be thrilled." She squeezed Carmilla's hand and leant into her. "Besides, I felt safe because you were right there."

Carmilla gave a shy half-smile and raised their entwined arms so she could press a kiss to the back of Laura's hand. "Thanks."

"I guess we should head back inside, huh," Laura said. "It's late, and who knows what we'll run into if we hang out here much longer."

"Suits me," Carmilla shrugged. "I believe the idea of having a good time when we got back was raised, anyway."

"Watching the new episode of Doctor Who; great idea!" Laura said enthusiastically, facing a very unimpressed looking Carmilla. She managed to hold her composure for about five seconds before collapsing into giggles.

"Not funny," Carmilla grumbled.

"It was a bit funny," Laura retorted. "But I suppose," She began with a melodramatic sigh, "that we could make out instead."

"How gracious," Carmilla deadpanned.

They walked on down the path, Laura happy to be holding her girlfriend's hand, and Carmilla equally as happy, but more interested in paying attention to their surroundings. To distract herself from thinking about muggers, she asked, "Is that thing about panthers really true?"

Laura hummed in response. "LaF was saying something about it. It's a catch-all term for pumas and leopards and things, I think."

"Oh," said Carmilla, a little dully. "I always thought I was a panther."

"You mean you don't know?" Laura asked, surprised. "How can you not know?"

Carmilla huffed. "You don't exactly get given a handbook when you're turned into a vampire. There's no training or explanations or anything. Just, one day I discovered that in addition to being undead, I could turn into a big black cat. I guess I assumed that 'panther' was the most logical choice for what I was."

"Well, I think you're a lovely, sleek, beautiful creature, whatever you are. Although," She said, with a hint of a smile, "now that the species is up for grabs, I'm making a push for 'cougar'."

"I thought cougars were a tawny colour," Carmilla replied absently.

"They are," Laura said innocently.

"Then why would-" Carmilla started. "Ohh," she realised as she took in the mischievous grin Laura was sporting. "A _cougar_. I get it. Very clever."

"I thought so."

They reached the approach to their building. Carmilla released their joined hands and faced Laura. "Well, exciting though that evening was, I think I want to get to the smooching and exercise combination now." She nipped at Laura's ear. "Interested?"

"Oh yeah," she breathed.

"Even though I'm a cougar?"

"Even though you're a cougar and a panther and a vampire, Carm. All I want is you."


End file.
